


Left Your Mark

by honey_hill



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, ends Bechloe, soulmate tattoo au, starts off as Jeca
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 09:10:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5660800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honey_hill/pseuds/honey_hill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>au where everyone is born with a very unique tattoo on their ankle, nobody else in the world has that tattoo.every time you fall in love with someone, their tattoo appears somewhere else on your body. (not necessarily soulmates, just who you fall in love with.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Left Your Mark

**Author's Note:**

> For someone over on the [Tumblr thing](http://relaxingwithhoney.tumblr.com/post/136733697653/that-tattoo-au-i-promised).

“Who wants to hold my cup?!”

“Uh Becs…”

Beca looked up at Jesse, slightly annoyed with him for interrupting the conversation she was having with Amy “Yeah?”

He didn’t say anything but instead nodded his head toward Chloe, who was passing her nearly empty yellow cup to Flo.

“Oh jeez,” she breathed before turning around completely to watch what she knew was going to be a ridiculous drunken mess.

“OH MY GOD GIRLS!” Chloe shouted, starting to pull her shirt up and over her head, leaving her in a lacy black bra with smooth, almost unmarred flesh behind. “WE’RE GOING TO THE WOOOOOORLDS!”

Beca stepped forward, handing her own cup, thankfully still her first and mostly full, to Jesse to try to talk Chloe down from whatever it was she was about to do. “Chlo, maybe…” she started, but cut herself off when she noticed a very familiar mark just below the cup of Chloe’s left breast. She zeroed in on the mark, studying it for all she was worth, to ensure it was a match with her own that graced her right ankle. She didn’t have to though, knowing instantly upon seeing the familiar curves and lines that it would be a perfect match.

Her observations were cut short when Chloe shifted, swinging her shirt around over her head. Beca swallowed heavily, ignoring the itch of a mark similar to the one on Chloe’s chest. At least in origin, if not slightly of style. She stepped forward, hands raised in a placating gesture to attempt to calm Chloe down, but when she opened her mouth, Chloe threw her shirt into the crowd.

“In the pool! Everybody in the pool!” She yelled before turning and throwing herself into the water to everybody’s shock. In the silence of the act, Beca vaguely heard Jesse clear his throat.

“Beca was that your…” Jesse started but trailed off, unable to finish. His eyes were glued to Chloe in the water; the vividness of the tattoo still visible, but unidentifiable under the water.

Beca tore her eyes away from the sight of Chloe floundering in the water, still trying to get others to swim with her, and settled them on Jesse’s concerned and confused face. She flicked her eyes back to Amy, who was looking at her sympathetically but unable to offer any sort of help in this situation. She sighed internally and shifted her gaze back to the warm brown on Jesse’s eyes. “She… I, uh… I had, I mean she-” Beca floundered.

He shook his head and grabbed her hand, not wanting others to overhear what he had a strong feeling was going to be the end of his relationship. He pulled her through the crowd and into the house, gesturing to the Trebels gathered there to make themselves scarce.

“Jesse,” Beca tried again, but he shook his head and led them up the stairs into his room. He dropped her hand as soon as they were in the room and turned and closed the door gently, leaning against it as he studied her. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and twisted the rings on her hands, having trouble meeting his eyes.

“Did you know?” He asked after what seemed like a very long time.

She shook her head. She really had no idea that Chloe felt that strongly toward her, that she felt the same way. The elation bubbled in her chest, but she desperately tried to tamp it down - at the very least for Jesse’s sake, if not her own. She cleared her throat, “I had no idea, Jesse.”

He was quiet again. Studying her. “Is that why,” he swallowed and looked at his feet. “Is she why it took you so long?”

She fingered the mark on her hip. The mark that took seven months longer to appear than the one that appeared on his side.

“Jesse,” she sighed his name. “You can’t,” she stopped herself and looked away from him, trying to gather her courage. Her eyes wandered to the pictures of them he had tacked to his wall and scrunched her eyebrows at the mementos of their relationship, before turning back to him. “You can’t get mad at me for when the marks appear. It isn’t really something anybody can control.”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” he rushed out, meeting her defensive gaze and shaking his head. His hand came up to squeeze his temples. “The mark, just below your heart… That’s hers isn’t it?” He dropped his hand and regards her intently, holding her there, making it impossible for her to look away and lie.

“Yeah,” she said. She hated the way her voice tightened around that word. Betraying the feelings she has bottled up for years.

He exhaled a short and harsh breath through his nose. “I should have known.”

“Okay,” her voice a little stronger now, edged with annoyance. “It’s not like I acted on it! I’m with you. I’ve been with you!”

“But that’s the thing, Beca,” he snapped, stating to pace and no longer looking at her, but rather just behind her. “You haven’t. Not really. I’ve never seen a tattoo as dark as hers on anybody.” His pacing sped up. “It was already there when we started dating. I figured it was some one-that-got-away type of thing. It hasn’t faded at all, not like mine has. I figured that’s just the way tattoos work, you know? As they get older they start to fade in the skin.” He stopped abruptly and spun so he was facing her.

“What?” Beca asked, taking a step away from the intensity in his posture.

“Do you still love me?”

Beca snorted. “Of course I do, Jesse. You know- “

“That’s the thing, Beca. I don’t know. My tattoo has faded, but Chloe’s is still as dark as the day I first saw it.”

“That’s not something I can control!” She snapped.

“You love her more,” he countered, his voice soft despite the heat that was in it only moments before. The sounds of the party still going on outside seem to break through the tension in the room. “I can’t do this,” he said.

“What?”

He shook his head and used his hand to gesture between them. “This. Us. I can’t be with you. Not when your heart belongs to someone else.”

“Jesse don’t,” Beca tried to say. Of course she loved him. She wouldn’t be with him if she didn’t. She hadn’t made a move on Chloe in the three years she’s known her, regardless of the mark she shared with her. She had Jesse, she was happy with him. Is happy with him.

“It’s not fair to me, Beca. But it’s not fair to you either. You can’t keep denying yourself. You know she feels the same way, so go after her.” He was looking at her so earnestly and Beca felt so badly about all of this that she could hardly look at him.

“I can’t Jesse,” she choked out and roughly wiped away some of the tears that have just barely escaped.

He covered the distance between them easily and wrapped her up in his arms. “You can,” he murmured, pressing a light kiss into the side of her head. “Don’t throw away the love that surrounds you, Beca. She’s not going anywhere.”

Beca didn’t say anything, but instead relaxed into Jesse’s embrace. They stood there for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s warmth for what was probably the last time. Eventually, Beca thought she had a hold on her tears, and inhaled on a big sigh, before squeezing Jesse one last time and stepping from the embrace.

“You okay now?” His voice was quiet, but sincere.

She nodded and smiled, though it was weak. Wiping the remnants of the tears from her face, she steeled herself, standing a little taller and rolling her shoulders back. Building herself back up after the impromptu show of emotion. “Yeah, I’m good." She paused, unsure. "Are we going to be okay?”

He nodded. “I think so. Just… give it a little while, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered with a small smile. She looked down and tucked her hair behind her ear and scuffed her foot on the floor before looking up and throwing a thumb over her shoulder. “I’m gonna go home now,” she tells him. “I’ll talk to you later, Jesse.”

She waited for his responding smile before turning and walking out the door. She paused when she reached the top of the staircase, letting the past conversation and outcome sink in. She broke herself out of her reverie when the noise of the party started to move its way inside and quickly made her way out the front door. She wasn’t in the mood for people anymore; she just wanted to relax and put this day behind her.

Though the walk between the two houses is short, Beca was still relieved when she finally shut the front door of the Bellas house. She had exactly ten seconds of silence to revel in before she was abruptly tackled by a still-damp Chloe.

“Becs! Where ya been?” The exuberant red head slurred.

Beca tensed and tried to wiggle her way out of Chloe’s strong grasp to no avail. She looked around desperately for help before seeing Fat Amy out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head to her roommate and frantically mouthed ‘help me’ at her.

“Chloe,” Amy approached with the calm tone of a mother talking an over-tired toddler down from what would surely become a tantrum if not handled specifically. “Why don’t you stop soaking poor Beca here and go take a shower?”

“But I wanna cuddle,” Chloe pouted, squeezing Beca tighter in response.

“We can cuddle when you’re dry, Chlo,” Beca soothed, relaxing a bit in the familiarity of Chloe’s embrace enough to run her hand up and down her arm.

“Promise?”

“Promise,” Beca confirmed. “Now go with Amy and get yourself clean. I don’t even want to think about what has happened in that pool.”

Amy made a face but Chloe perked up. “Okay!” She said, detaching herself from Beca and running up the stairs, narrowly avoiding tripping up the steps.

Beca and Amy stood in the foyer for a few moments, listening for any crashing noises that would imply Chloe needed help. When none came, Amy turned to Beca with a soft and caring look on her face.

“You okay there, Cap?”

Beca turned toward her, keeping her featured schooled into a mask of indifference. “Yeah. Just not in the mood for people anymore.” Amy quirked her lips, but nodded in lieu of saying anything. “Can you take care of Chloe for the night?” She hesitated at Amy’s raised eyebrows. She was always the one to take care of a drunk Chloe. Two complete years of holding her hair back, or helping her into pajamas, or cuddling with her when Chloe was in a particularly touchy-feely mood. “I kinda just want to head up to bed.”

“Sure thing,” Amy said, before making her way up the stairs, albeit much slower and more controlled than Chloe’s ascension minutes before, leaving Beca alone with her thoughts.

She felt horrible, abandoning Chloe when she has been the person to take care of her for so long. She knew how much Chloe came to rely on her, and because of that changed her own behaviors in order to keep an eye on Chloe. She didn’t even mind it – not at all. She reveled in the trust that Chloe gave her, proud to be worthy. The realization that Chloe returned her feelings shouldn’t have been enough to scare Beca away. And while Beca didn’t think it was, she couldn’t help but hold on to her old habits.

So instead of heading into Chloe’s room to help Amy, who would at this point probably be having trouble getting Chloe into her pajamas, she made her way slowly, tiredly, up to her own bedroom and her own bed. She felt herself go through the motions of getting ready for bed, but her thoughts weren’t actually present during them. Instead, she replayed her relationship with Chloe, trying to figure out when the redhead fell hard enough to have the tattoo appear. She couldn’t think of a single time. Honestly, there were so many that made Beca’s own tattoo burn with the glow of adoration towards the girl. The happiness after winning Nationals the first time, the impromptu songs Chloe would coerce out of her, the cuddle sessions that Beca absolutely loved, even though she outwardly acted indifferently.

She sighed and turned over, almost half expecting for Chloe to be next to her in her small bed.

It was never the same with Jesse as it was with Chloe. Chloe seemed to instantly work her way into Beca’s life. She didn’t force Beca out of her comfort zone, but instead offered to take the step with her, or stay behind and keep her company. On the other hand, Jesse thought that pushing Beca to try to get her to enjoy the things he did was the way to go. And while that occasionally worked, Beca was much more resistant to his idea of change. Sure, she could actually sit through a movie without falling asleep now, thanks to him, but Chloe was able to get her to enjoy it. Sure, she lightened up on the dark and dreary wardrobe to make him feel less like she was about to kill him with a look, but Chloe was the one that helped slowly transition her into feeling more comfortable in her own skin.

Chloe, despite loving Beca the way that Beca loved her, put her feelings aside for who knows how long to let Beca discover who she was with only the gentlest of prodding. Initially, Beca would have thought she was helping her with being good enough for Jesse, but knowing Chloe, Beca knew she was doing it for Beca herself and nobody else.

And that was the thought that got Beca out of bed to quietly pad down the stairs and into Chloe’s room. She stopped just before opening the door, steepling her fingers lightly on the door, while her right hand lightly grasped the doorknob. She listened for a moment, trying to hear the soft snores that usually emanate from Chloe’s room. Hearing nothing, Beca carefully opened the door and stepped inside.

“Chlo?” Beca shut the door softly behind her, her eyes glued to the figure sitting up in the bed. “What’re you doing up?”

“You weren’t here,” came the soft reply. Chloe didn’t look at Beca or acknowledge her in any other way. Instead her fingers lightly toyed with the quilt on her bed, plucking and pulling the fabric.

“I am now,” Beca smiled, the smallest twitch of her lips, at hearing that Chloe was as lost as she was without the her. She stepped forward to Chloe’s bed and gently pushed Chloe’s hip while she lifted the sheets to make room for herself. “Scoot,” she added, slipping under the sheets and cozying up to the redhead. Chloe quickly shifted her hips, making room for the small brunette and lay down next to her pulling her closer.

“Missed you,” Chloe mumbled, shifting so that she was all but wrapped around Beca. Her head snuggled against Beca’s shoulder.

“Missed you too, Chlo.” Beca felt better already. Less like she was missing something and more like she was complete – exactly in the way that Chloe always felt like home. She held Chloe a little tighter against her, reveling in the soft “mmm” Chloe breathed against her neck, and allowed Chloe’s steady breathes to lull her off to the land of dreams.

* * *

 

It wasn’t like she had exactly planned to fall in love when she came to Barden. Her goal had been to come, bide her time and suck up to her father, and skip town at the end of the year without a look back over his shoulder. But a chance encounter with a readhead in a shower stall and endless pestering from a dork at the radio station all but shoved those plans off the table, and Beca found herself comfortable in her life.

It took her a while to start opening up to her friends, and initially she had tried with Jesse, hoping that his enthusiasm would allow her to open up more with the Bellas. She trusted the Bellas, she did. But for whatever reason their opinion of her mattered more than Jesse’s, and Jesse’s persistence at getting Beca to open up made her think that he would be a safer bet. It wasn’t until after Regionals that Beca realized she might have a better chance with the girls, more specifically Chloe, at being comfortable with herself.

“I didn’t know you were into this stuff.”

It was a simple line, an observation thrown out there so casually without the slightest bit of judgment or hurt that made Beca mentally pause. Chloe had been there for Beca, backing her up and defending her against Aubrey, helping her with choreography, grabbing coffee with Beca after a long day when all Beca wanted to do was sit in silence. Chloe never pried for information, knowing when Beca needed the quiet comfort of a friend, or needed her surroundings to be filled with light chatter. She never dug for information, and rarely brought up uncomfortable subjects that Beca tried to avoid at all costs.

So when Beca replied with a hesitant “Yeah,” it was more to herself, coming to the realization that she wanted Chloe to know. She found herself keeping Chloe back after everyone left for the night, suggesting that Chloe come by after practice the next day and she could show her.

“Oh my god, this is amazing, Beca!” Chloe had just gotten through the first bass drop, nodding her head along with the rhythm of the bass as Beca sat and watched. The redhead had her eyes closed, her hands lightly covering the cups of the headphones, fingers tapping along with the beat. She had a blinding smile on her face as she listened, which, even then, always made Beca smile in response.

A loud squeal revealed the bright blue eyes that were previously focused inward at the music. “That’s you singing! You’re singing in your mixes!”

Chloe’s enthusiasm made Beca laugh. She turned down the music slightly so that Chloe could hear her reply.

“You sound so surprised. It’s not like you didn’t know I sing.”

Chloe grinned and allowed the song to finish before gently lifting the headphones off her head and placing them lightly on the keyboard. “You said you didn’t sing when we first met,” she pointed out. “Who would’ve thought that Beca Mitchell was a dirty dirty liar.”

“Technically, I didn’t lie. I started singing in my mixes after I joined the Bellas.”

“Mmm,” Chloe responded, pursing her lips at Beca.

“What?”

Instead of responding, Chloe grabbed her iPod from her pocket and gave it to Beca. “I want them.”

“What?”

She nodded at the iPod. “Put them on. I want to listen to them all the time.” She stood from the bed and leaned over Beca, putting her weight on the arms of the chair Beca was sitting in. “All. The. Time,” she emphasized in a sultry whisper. She looked into Beca’s eyes, her grin widening when Beca’s eyes widened and gulped a very noticeable gulp.

“’Kay,” Beca agreed.

Chloe nodded and leaned back. “’Kay,” she repeated in a chipper tone, moving to sit back on the bed. “So tell me how you do this. How do you choose what songs to pick? Do you match lyrics or just beats? Ooh! Can you teach me?”

Beca laughed and answered all of Chloe’s questions. The response Chloe gave her was so much more meaningful than the one Jesse gave her. His half-hearted reaction to her music the first time she showed him disheartened her a little. Sure, she knew they had different tastes in music, but she was hoping, at least with his persistence in pursuing her, that he would at least be more interested in her interests instead of pushing her interests back to try to get her more interested in his.

Chloe was what she was looking for. She was actually interested in Beca’s work. She liked it and asked for more. She didn’t push it aside like it was nothing, and her enthusiasm made Beca glow in the warmth of acceptance that she had been searching for.

So the next morning when Beca woke up with a clear and crisp tattoo on the left side of her rib cage, she shouldn’t have been so surprised.

* * *

 

"Why are you up so late anyways?" Amy asked, making her way over to the closet to change into clothes more appropriate for the time of night.

"Um," Beca waved the question off. "Just figuring some stuff out."

"Working on the set?"

Beca sat up and ran her hand through her hair. "No. Not working on the set. Just like…" She paused and sighed.

"What?" Amy asked, her voice muffled by the partially shut door and the rustling of fabric.

Beca pinched her lips together and decided to give up on the topic. "Nothing. Doesn't matter."

Amy poked her head suspiciously out of the closet. "Y'know," she started, opening the door fully and making her way over to her own bed, sitting on it facing Beca. "If you did want to share something with me… your best friend… who has been your roommate for the past two and a half years…" She paused, waiting for Beca to say something, but when she didn't continued on. "I'm a great keeper of secrets. Like a safe that locks with a key… a key that's stashed up my bum…"

"It's fine, Amy. Forget it," Beca broke in, not really interested in learning more about the bum-key or wherever Amy was planning to take that metaphor. "It's all good," she said more to herself.

"So this has nothing to do with the internship you're sneaking off to?" Beca looks up sharply at Amy, but Amy continued without giving Beca a chance to say anything else. "Or is this about the tattoos that you and Red have been sporting for each other?"

Beca gaped, her mouth opening and closing, trying to force words out.

"Of course I knew, Beca! You are about as subtle as a Tasmanian Devil in heat."

"But how?" Beca finally found her voice. "How long have you known?"

Amy huffed and leaned back on her hands, looking up to the ceiling in deep concentration. "Uhh. Like, two years?"

"What?!"

"Yeah, I don't know how you've managed to stay so oblivious. Chloe's not great at hiding it. Like the pool at the Trebels house a few months ago? Or the beach house last summer? Or the slumber party sophomore year?"

"How long has she had it?" How long had she and Beca had the overlap of the tattoos? If Amy was right, it would mean that Chloe had had her mark far before Jesse's mark had started to fade. Before Jesse's mark had appeared, even. She had wasted so much time.

"Maybe you should ask her," Amy suggested. She allowed her weight to fall back on the bed and heaved a sigh. "But that would probably be too hard. So I guess you'll just be stuck with knowing that both of you are completely in love with the other and neither of you are acting on it."

"I don't even know how to approach the topic." Beca sighed and copied Amy, falling back into her mattress, her head landing softly on her pillow. What would she do? Just walk up to Chloe and say 'hey, I saw something that looked a little familiar' and pull her shirt up? Beca shook her head and rolled over, facing Amy.

"That's something you've got to figure out for yourself. But if I were you I wouldn't wait too long." Amy readjusted herself and tucked herself in to bed. "Night, Beca."

"'Night, Amy," Beca responded and switched off the lights.

She wanted to tell Chloe, she did. She knew that time to say something was running out. Especially since she didn't know what Chloe's plans were after graduation. If she was going to make a move, she would have to do it soon. She almost dreaded separating from the Bellas as a whole, but it was unimaginable to be without Chloe. She had gotten so used to having her around that on the rare occasion when Chloe decided to visit home, Beca was left feeling lost – like a piece of her was missing. The absence of Chloe in her everyday life after graduation dreaded Beca, and she came to the conclusion that Amy was right. She'd have to say something, and soon. She just didn't know how.

* * *

 

“If you would have just told us.”

“I know, but I’m weird about that stuff,” Beca replied, looking guiltily into Chloe’s eyes. She didn’t intend to keep so much from her. She was her best friend. Is her best friend. There was so much she should have told her.

When the others were sitting up and getting ready to go back to the tent for their last night of sleeping on the ground, Beca hung back. She stared into the fire, the throw blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She didn’t notice she wasn’t alone until the chair next to her shifted and Chloe sat down next to her. They sat in companionable silence for a while, until Beca found her confidence to speak.

“I’ve been keeping something else from you,” she admitted.

Chloe turned her head from the fire and looked at Beca. Studied her, her eyes roamed over Beca’s features, taking in the nervous twitch of her hands, the downcast eyes, the light blush dusting her cheekbones. But she said nothing and schooled her face into an impassive mask.

Beca took a deep breath. “Three years ago, I was a loner. I was lonely. I had myself convinced that everything was easier alone.” She turned her head slightly and met Chloe’s eyes. “That _I_ was better off alone.” She let her words settle in the silence, the only noise being the sounds of the outside and the fire crackling in front of them.

“Three years ago,” she continued, still studying Chloe’s features, “I met you and everything changed.”

Chloe sniffed, trying to hold the glassiness in her eyes. “Beca,” she said, her voice quiet and thick with emotion.

Beca pulled the throw blanket from around her and placed it on the wall next to her chair. She moved so she had more room to maneuver in the chair and gripped the edges of her shirt, ready to pull it over her head.

“About a week after initiation,” Chloe broke Beca’s determination and she paused her actions, shirt halfway up her stomach. Beca looked over at Chloe and allowed her shirt to drop for a moment. She tilted her head in confusion and Chloe continued. “I think it was the first time you told Aubrey she needed to do something about the stick up her butt.” Chloe laughed lightly, a pensive smile taking over the mirth and she brought her attention back to Beca. “She was so shocked and she looked at me to deal with you, and I just knew… You were it for me then. I couldn’t even go up against Aubrey because you were so… passionate about a capella, and you hadn’t been involved very long, but you were still trying so hard to make us better. You cared, so much, for something that you were just introduced to, but you tried so hard to hide it.” Chloe stood and took the two steps over to Beca to stand in front of her. She pulled her tank top up, revealing the simple, but unique, tattoo there.

Beca stood and hesitantly reached forward and ran her fingers lightly over it, feeling the way Chloe’s skin erupted in goose bumps where she trailed her fingers, hearing Chloe’s breath hitch as she placed her hand more solidly over it, allowing her fingers to curl around the girl’s ribs.

“We’re both idiots,” Beca said, her thumb trailing over the mark on Chloe. “Almost four years wasted when we could have been together this whole time.”

At Chloe’s questioning look, she raised her own shirt, revealing Chloe’s mark on her own skin.

“Oh,” Chloe breathed.

“Yeah.”

Chloe tore her eyes away from the mark and met Beca’s dark gaze. “You love me too?”

“More than music,” Beca responded confidently.

Chloe smiled, tears pooling in her eyes as Beca shifted awkwardly. “Can um, I’m going to kiss you now, okay?”

Chloe nodded and surged forward, bringing their lips together for the first time, and to Beca, it felt like home.


End file.
